It’s time again for your Wednesday open thread. Can you believe it’s Wednesday already? The weeks keep getting faster
Oh goody. We can spend more money prosecuting Rod Blagojevich. He was found guilty on just 1 of 24 charges – lying to investigators.
Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has been found guilty of only one of the 24 counts in his corruption trial. After deliberating for 14 days, the jury found him guilty only of making false statements to the FBI. The jury is deadlocked on the other 23 counts.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Blagojevich faces up to five years in prison. Judge James B. Zagel intends to declare a mistrial on the other counts.
The verdict is a huge defeat for U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, but the Associated Press reports that prosecutors said they plan to retry the case as soon as possible, and that Zagel set a hearing for August 26 to decide on the manner and timing.
Apparently the jury vote was 11-1 in favor of conviction. I’m sure the government will want to retry him but I really think it works in Blagojevich’s favor to look at plea deal.
You know who the real victim is? Dr. Laura, 1st amendment martyr:
She said on “Larry King Live” Tuesday night she won’t re-up when her contract runs out at the end of the year.
While Schlessinger told King she was still “regretful” over the incident, she said she feels her freedom of speech rights “have been usurped by angry, hateful groups who don’t want to debate – they want to eliminate.”
“I want to be able to say what’s on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry, some special interest group deciding this is the time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates, attack sponsors,” she said. “I’m sort of done with that.”
Schlessinger adamantly denied she was retiring, saying “I’m too young for that. I will be stronger and freer to say my mind through my books, my YouTube Channel, my blog and my website. And I’ll be on TV more, because I’ll have the freedom to speak my mind.”
“I decided it was time to move on to other venues where I could say my peace and not have to live in fear anymore,” she said.
I didn’t realize the 1st amendment contained a clause that you shouldn’t face consequences for your free speech if people don’t like what you say. Obviously I need to study the Constitution more because apparently there’s a bunch of modifying clauses I never noticed before.